Shadows of Asgård
by mOsbricka
Summary: A mysterious man walks the face of Midgård, he seems neither human nor monster. A master swordsman with a past filled with blood. Random encounters with him has been made since the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. Who is he? What is he? What does he want? The gods all want to know, but can the heroes of Olympus deal with it? Or will the fall like everyone else who opposed him… Slight AU
1. Al-Quds

The woman looked over the quiet city. Her eyes followed the stream of torches showing the train of people moving away. She was wearing a dark cape that hid her features but if you looked closely you could make out her glowing orange eyes. She emitted a powerful aura- strong, yet easy to hide.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a man's voice asked from behind her. "The city I mean. It is by all means the greatest city in the world, surpassing that of even Rome and Constantinople"

She didn't answer, she just continued staring out- her eyes studying the design of the great temples of the city, the Al-Aqsa and over Calvary.

"I am terribly sorry for your niece, Lady Hestia, or is it Vesta now that the Holy Land has fallen? It must be devastating for her, abandoned by her family… again." his voice was deep and filled with emotion, he sounded tired.

The man walked up beside her and leaned over the railing next to her. "We have a lot to discuss," he said "Things have happened in the world that you must know

about"

When he was finished the woman's head was in her hands and she was crying, her body convulsed violently with every sob. The man had his strong arms around her thin figure, in a way they looked contrasting- male and female, strong and thin, blue and orange, but in another way they looked similar- both had brown hair and both had an aura of calm around them.

After some time her tears stopped falling but she was still sobbing, the man continued his embrace, now rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"You have a lot to explain," she said, leaving his arms "like how you know about me, and why you broke your oath? What is your name, how did you know that this is the new Greece?"

"My name by birth is Airikiv Magnusson, I was born in a noble family in what is known as Göta Land. The Saracens know me as Al Ghouti. I knew about you because I figured there couldn't be only one pantheon of gods in the world. It is not a secret in the Order that gods exist. Plus that son of Zeus that had to give up the city is a little too obvious." He said holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"That doesn't explain why you hugged me and still think you haven't broken your vow. Templars are not permitted to touch women."

"The answer to that is simple," he said, still calm. "I am no longer a Templar, my friend Yussuf, got me out of the Order."

"But Templars can never leave, they swear for life" she said. "Not me, I got exiled here by my family and after the battle of Hattin's Horn the Grandmaster released me from my vow. I am now a free man and I am walking towards the kingdom at the end of the road." he said with a sad voice. "Hopefully no one will recognise me at home."

"How long will you stay here before you leave? I think we could be great friends" she blurted out, instantly blushing as she realised what she had said.

"It depends on how many stupid European kings that decide to sail for the Holy Land now that Saladin has taken it. So far, only God knows. I yet to have completed some things in Europe that must be completed, after that, I might be going overseas."

"What do you mean overseas? To Asia?" Hestia asked, surprised.

"No, I think I'm going west, to V–"

He reacted quicker than anyone Hestia had ever seen, as soon as he registered the movement his legs instantly propelled him to the right, he dove and was up on his feet in a split second. But he hadn't been quick enough, a silver arrow was stuck in his shoulder, he stared at it as if he didn't believe it was real, only to dodge to the right again and in the same motion, breaking of the arrow.

The moment he was up he had a sword in his hand. Hestia recognised it as a standard Templar sword although this one looked different, the hilt of the sword was a beautiful cross, with gold and fair gems. The double edged blade was leaf thin and completely white. The same aura of calm that surrounded the man rolled off in waves from the blade, but with the sword it was a different feeling, the man was warm and gentle and though the sword felt warm and gentle, the feeling Hestia got from it was dread, this was not the weapon of a mindless killer, this was the weapon of a man who always hit his goal, swiftly and accurately, always the spot that killed.

Hestia stared in amusement at Airik as he tried to figure out where the arrow had come from, amused until she saw his eyes, they were no longer deep ocean blue, they looked like ice, cold and merciless. They scanned the area systematically, until the second arrow flew against him. He almost lazily grabbed the arrow with his left and and started sprinting in the direction of the shot. He dove left and propelled himself off a pillar, behind another and disappeared out of sight. Hestia only heard the scream, the high pitched scream of a girl.

She moved to observe the scene, and then he emerged from behind a different set of pillars, sword sheathed and clothes as white as if they had just been made.

"What did you do to her?" Hestia asked, scared.

"She got what she asked for. I'm tired of this stinking land, the heat is getting to my head. I'll be leaving now, _milady_ , may we never see eachother again."

He spun on his heel and walked off, leaving Hestia wonder what happened. _That is a strange man_ she thought _he doesn't care about others, he's ruthless and cold, even inthe heat of the desert. I must warn Artemis to stay away from him, he is far too dangerous for even her hunters to take on._

* * *

Artemis woke up screaming from a nightmare. She had dreamed that her hunters all lay dead on the ground, a knight towering over them with no weapon other than a sword which was completely white. His face had been covered by shadows.

She knew it was only a nightmare, but she still felt uneasy, the hunters had captured a male the day before and the knight in her dream had reminded her of him. She tried to remember what time it was and was surprised when she saw the sun setting. Had she overslept almost a day?

What really scared her was the silence in the camp, at this time in the morning her hunters should be up doing their chores. But the camp was silent as the grave. She got a strange feeling that the dream maybe hadn't been just a dream.

Artemis ran, hoping she was wrong, that it had all just been a dream. She prayed to the fates ' _Please don't let the male escape'_.

The scene she saw in front of her was the opposite of what she prayed for. Bodies lay everywhere. They all had neat wounds, one single stab through the heart. She guessed they didn't stand a chance, the male had seemed eerily calm when they captured him and now it was too late.

She saw the pole where they had tied the male. Now a slender, silver clad figure was tied there. She saw the tiara in her black hair and realised that it was Zoë Nightshade, her lieutenant, tied to the post. Zoë's head moved and Artemis saw the tears in her onyx coloured eyes. She ran up to her and tried to untie her, her hands shaking.

When the girl was tied loose Artemis saw her injuries, a neat cut across her thigh, that she would have died of if it had only been a couple of millimetres deeper. It cut exactly across the vein in her thigh.

Zoë hugged Artemis with all her power, not wanting to release her grip. The girl couldn't stop sobbing, Artemis just hugged her. Then she felt the girl's shoulders tense, then she saw the sword that was placed just under her chin. Marble white, flour thin, blade, she followed it with her eyes, until they finally met with the eyes of her captive, the mysterious man. Just like in her dream.

His eyes were ice-blue and equally cold. When she locked eyes with him she felt the temperature drop to negative, even though the oasis where the camp was set up was in the middle of a desert.

"You made a big mistake attacking me, _milady_ " he said coldly. He said the word formally but she understood that he was being sarcastic.

Suddenly she felt a rage boil up inside her. This _man_ had brutally murdered her hunters, he should be punished. Her hunting knives materialised in her hands as she hurled herself forwards.

He almost lazily kicked her hard in the chest, sending her flying. Artemis staggered to her feet, struggling to breathe.

"You murdered my hunters! You murdered my friends! You are going to pay!" she screamed as she stabbed at his unprotected head.

"Like you haven't murdered people, _milady_! Think of every innocent male you have killed! Surely someone must pay for the despicability of many of us, but you can't just murder someone on the basis that there gender is wrong. I might actually have done the world a favour." his voice had an eerie sense of calm, like he knew exactly what to do.

Artemis continued stabbing, hacking and slashing at him but he deflected every blow with a swat of his sword, almost like if he was toying with her. She made a stab and got surprised when it got inside his guard, that was until she realised that he had let it slip through. He grabbed her arm in a crushing grip, and slapped away her knives. He locked eyes with her and she, once again, felt the temperature drop.

"You made a big mistake capturing me. You will however, not tell the other gods about this, otherwise you will not have a hunt left, understood?" he said with the same calm in his voice. "I will let you live this time. Hopefully for you there won't be a second. He dropped her on the ground and she realised that fighting against him wasn't worth it.

He started walking towards the sunset, but turned. He said: "And just so I know you won't follow me…"

she didn't even see him move, but she felt a sharp pain in her neck before her world blacked out.

The last thing she saw was the form of the man walking away, towards the setting sun, his form slowly fading as if he turned into a shadow…


	2. Steel and teeth

**All rights belong to Rick Riordan.**

Artemis' tent- 1189

Artemis woke screaming from the nightmare. She had dreamt that the man that she and her hunters captured last night had broke free and killed almost everyone. Artemis tried to tell herself that it was all just a dream but her heart wouldn't stop beating, maybe she was wrong.

Then she remembered that this was exactly how her dream had begun, with her waking up from another dream. She felt the sun in her face, but not the setting sun, this time the rising one. She also heard her hunters doing their chores as usual. She decided that it was time to go and check up on the male, because the frequency of him in her dreams started to scare her.

When she got to the pole he was tied to she was delighted to see that he was still there. So delighted that she let out a deep breath she hadn't realised she was holding. When he heard her breath being exhaled he smirked, he didn't acknowledge her in any other way.

"Get out of my dreams!" she screamed at him. "Stop toying with my thoughts!" This only served to grow his smirk wider. He clearly understood that he sat with a bargain right in front of him.

 _Silence_

She stared at him, wondering how he could be so calm, he was tied to a pole, in front of the best battle trained goddess who also happened to be angry at him. She decided not to take his silent smirk as an answer and walked forward and punched him in the face. Or, at least she tried to, when her arm was a few inches away from his face he moved faster than Artemis could register, grabbing her arm and somehow twisting her body over his shoulder so that she landed on her stomach with her arm in a painful position behind her back. His hand was holding it in place, pinning her down. As she lay on the ground a light slowly went up in her of what had happened, a _boy_ had managed to move faster than she could understand and also had pinned her down, face first, into the soil, all while she still thought his hands were tied behind his back, to a pole.

"Now, now," he said with a deep and almost mocking voice. "What do we have here? The prideful goddess of the hunt and moon biting the dust? Underneath a man? That must be a first."

Artemis tried to wriggle her way out from underneath him, whilst screaming:

"Get of me _boy_ , insolent pig, vile beast!" to this he only laughed.

"Trust me milady, I have only touched a women once in thirty years, and that was two years ago and only a simple hug to help her get over a loss."

Artemis stopped. What did he say. He was clearly lying to her, since no man could stay in celibacy for that long. He must have seen her confused look because he said:

"I swear on the river Styx that all I have said is true" Thunder boomed and he didn't fade. Artemis was shocked to say the least. How could he possibly have resisted the urges?

"How? No man can be without a women for that long of a time!" she said, still shocked.

"Ever heard of the Knights Templar Order? I swore of all physical interaction with women for the entire time I served."

Artemis was dumbfounded, of course. "How did you escape the bonds?" she asked with a quiet voice.

"I was free the very moment you turned your backs towards me." he answered. "The nightmares was my way of getting revenge. I do not attack people unless they engage first. I also don't like to attack women." Artemis wondered if this was a way for him to get on her good side, acted like a gentleman. She decided it was better not to ask him to swear on the Styx.

"I will release you now," he said, pulling her knifes out of her belt. "Do not try to attack me as I am a good throw. You will not even get the chance to think if you decide to summon your bow."

She felt his weight shift of her and she struggled to her feet, her shoulder hurt because of the near dislocation he had put it through. She turned and watched him, his shoulders were not overly broad, like Ares or Hercules, but more slim and his whole body seemed lean like a cat. He was probably not as agile as she, or her hunters were but she guessed his movements were slightly limited by his armour, a simple chainmail that covered his torso and upper legs. Not comfortable but good at blocking cuts from swords. Stabs or arrows were different as they could pierce the tiny rings that made up the piece.

"I will leave now, as soon as you get me my sword and shield. You will not speak of this to any of your hunters and you don't have to say goodbye, you will need my help sooner than you would hope and expect." Artemis thought deeply at his words as she entered the armory tent where the Hunt would store their weapons. She was so deep in thought she didn't even realise his weapons weren't there. They were gone, the place where they had been was empty. She turned and ran towards the place where she had left the strange man. He was gone. Left in the sand was a final message:

 _Always check under your bed, monsters are lurking everywhere._

… the pack of hellhounds was moving in fast. The hunt was completely surrounded but Artemis knew they could win. The Hunt was the best that Olympus had ever had, they could beat almost any opponent when they were all together.

As the hellhounds charged they instantly fell to the silver arrows of the hunters. Artemis and Zoë fired arrows, every single one hitting their target. Hellhounds fell to the left and right, exploding into gold dust. When the pack seemed to have run out of hounds something happened, a strangely powerful presence. Artemis felt it a second too late, she didn't have time to flash her hunters out of there, as they all collapsed, unconscious. Then she heard the being, the monster that materialised out of nowhere was one of the biggest she had ever seen. A wolf, almost 9'11" tall, it stood out from the environment. It was pitch black with blood red eyes, if Artemis survived this she was going to have to ask Lupa about this wolf, her old friend would probably want to know about a wolf this big. She fired arrow after arrow at it, but it just stood there- taking arrows to its face, even eyes. She reached back to grab an arrow but found that her quiver was empty. That was when she heard the strange guttural sound eminating from the wolf. It took some time before she realised it was laughter. A gigantic wolf was laughing at her. Then the wolf started speaking. With a voice that sounded like iron scraping against iron, a strangely deep voice that echoed of pure malice and hatred.

" _So, you are the famed Artemis, goddess of the Hunt, moon, childbirth, patron of maidens daughter of Zeus and brother of Apollo. I must admit that it is a pleasure to meet you."_ it said. _"Might I ask, was those mosquitoes you threw at me? Was that really your best, come on huntress, attack me." he said, amused._

Artemis was frozen in place, how could she possibly beat a being this powerful? She wasn't sure even Heracles could wrestle it down and he was the god of Strength.

" _What's the matter sweetheart, got something stuck in your throat? Mind if I help you with that?"_ it said as it lunged at her, claws extended. Artemis closed her eyes and awaited the blow that she was sure would send her to Tartaros for a long time. She waited, and waited and waited. But the strike never came, instead a gurgling sound arose from in front of her. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the body of the giant wolf. The head stared back at her, but not from its previous position on the wolf's neck but from just in front of her feet.

She panicked as she kicked the head hard, creating a sound as if she had kicked a piece of iron. _Clunc_. It didn't move, far too heavy for her kick to send flying the head just fell to the side.

"I told you to watch out!" the slightly annoyed voice of the man who had managed to pin her to the ground, face down, and gotten away with it. "I also told you that you would need my help, so a thank you might be the right thing to do."

Artemis was too shocked to breathe. He had saved her, the split second before she has to have her throat ripped out, his sword cut the head off of the monster. She thought of what would've happened to her hunters, hadn't he been there. They would all have been killed and eaten by the wolf. She started hyperventilating as the full weight of what almost happened hit her. Tears were streaming down the prideful goddess' cheeks. She ran and hugged the man, squeezing as hard as she could.

"Thank you, for saving my hunters! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried into his shoulder. He was taller than her, she was short given that she looked twelve years old, but he was also incredibly tall. His shoulder was soft, like he had no armour underneath his leather tunic, she guessed that he didn't. When he finally said that her hunters would soon wake up and that he had to leave- considering the fact that her hunters would most likely kill him for hugging their goddess, she pulled away. Her tears had stopped and she only felt gratitude towards him, for saving her life, but mostly her hunter's.

"What do you want for saving their lives? I will give you anything in my power." she blurted out.

"Be careful of who you give such an offer to, many men would decide to use this to their advantage, bedding the goddess of maidens is not an easy task, but I am no such man. I only ask of you never to mention this to anyone, including your family. I will have you swear on the Creator that you will never say a word."

She swore the oath on Khaos, making sure that if she said the first syllable mentioning the moment would ensure that she was obliterated from existence. Faded. Gone. No coming back.

After she swore it she marvelled at the fact that he didn't ask her maidenhood, but like he said, maybe he was different from other men. He turned his back on her and her hunters, only to stab a knife into the corpse of the wolf, she saw its essence being absorbed into the blade as the body faded away.

"If you ever need me again, don't be afraid to call for me at night. We have much in common, maybe we could become friends? We can at least work towards a common goal, ridding the world from evil men and monsters."

He started walking away but stopped as she said, "What is your name? You haven't told me yet."

"Just call for Al Ghouti and I will be there."

He stalked of opposite way of the setting sun, towards the moon. Artemis saw his form slowly dissolving as he merged with the setting dusk…

 **A/N: Another chapter. Thank you for the people who follow this story, and please if you like it, do so yourself. This is so far experimental, I have no clear way that I want to take it, but I'm constantly gathering inspiration.**

 **If you have read the "** _ **Road to Jerusalem**_ **"-series by Jan Guillou you will notice that I took a lot of inspiration from that source.**

 **Please review if you liked it.**

 **/mOsbricka**


	3. Shards of Ice

**All rights belong to Rick Riordan.**

Reyna walked along the dark road in the suburban area of the city, she was pissed to say the least. Her boyfriend a guy named Magnus, had just broken up with her and she felt like crying, or murdering the first person to disturb her. It had been half a year since she and Hylla had fled their home on Circe's island on the famed ship _Queen Anne's Revenge_ captained by the well known pirate Blackbeard, a son of Mars. Reyna had always hated the island and wanted nothing more than to escape from it, but Hylla had insisted on that it was the only place where they would be safe, and maybe she had been right. The neighborhood they lived in now was all but peaceful, gangs were clashing against each other and it was unsafe to travel alone at night, especially if you were a woman. But Reyna didn't care about her safety, all she wanted was for Magnus to say that he lied and that he still loved her.

As she walked down the road, deep in thought she heard a voice calling from behind her,

"Where are you going, pretty bird?" it was a man's voice. "Why don't you come over here? I promise I don't bite." Reyna didn't trust him, she hurried her steps until he grabbed her arm,

"Ignoring people is not very nice." he whistled and a bunch of his friends seemed to appear from nowhere, forming a circle around them.

Reyna did not like the way that this was going, what could she do against five fully grown men, her fourteen year old body didn't even reach their shoulders in terms of height, and her muscle mass was far less. She felt one of them grab her arm and pull, throwing her down on the ground. One of them ripped her top, leaving her chest bare. All of them made whistling sounds and she saw at least one of them lick his lips.

"What do we have her, pretty bird? Come on don't hide from us!" he said as Reyna tried to cover herself with her hands. "Please show us! Or do we have to punish you?"

One of them started unbuckling his belt and Reyna started to panic, she didn't want to get raped.

Then she heard someone whisper something from the shadows, it was in a strange language but she understood what the voice said. _Take the sword._ She saw something laying on the pavement in front of her, it glimmered white in the night. She reached forward and grabbed the hilt, it fit perfectly in her hand, almost as if it was adjusting itself against her palm. She lifted her arm and felt how light it was, almost as a feather and thin as paper, but the cuts from this wouldn't be shallow but instead deep enough to chop off limbs or even cut a human in half.

The man who unbuckled his belt almost had his pants off, just needing to pull his feet out of them. None of the men had noticed the sword, but she didn't care, these were the people who tried to rape her! She spun the sword in a wide circle, easily cutting through the neck of the first man, the one who had grabbed her. Then realisation hit the others like a bomb, they scrambled out of her reach, and they almost made it. The one with his pants down went first, the sword piercing his chest, right through his heart. Reyna felt her instincts take over as she held one hand to cover her chest from their eyes and the other on the sword. She lunged and managed to scrape a third rapists leg before they finally had the wits to counter-attack. They went at her with, chains, pipes, sticks everything they could find. One of them even had a stiletto-knife but he soon realised that he was at a severe disadvantage regarding his reach.

They spread out and came from three different sides. The one that had been injured in the leg was behind her, slightly limping, Reyna felt like she wouldn't win, even though her chances when she got the sword had multiplied. At the moment her hope started fading she felt the sword grow heavier and somehow longer, almost being too heavy for her to hold with one hand.

When the rapists started advancing towards her she felt an eerie sense of calm, like something was draining her worries. Then she saw the man standing behind one of the men, he had a white hoodie on, the hood covering his face, all covered in shadow but two glowing blue orbs where his eyes would be. He was wearing jeans as well, not too baggy but still loose as if he was expecting to move around a lot. His hands were tucked inside the kangaroo-pocket of his hoodie, but he seemed to be fiddling with something.

"Use the sword, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano! Only the worthy can wield it now show me I chose wisely," he said, whilst taking his hands out from his pockets, in his right one he was holding what looked like two bars of white metal, but as soon as he started flicking it she saw that it was a butterfly knife. The blade was beautiful, white as polished marble with intricate designs of crosses and flowers all over it, there was a scary feeling of the white blade that made the small hairs on Reyna's neck stand straight up. He moved his hand gracefully while walking towards one of the men, Reyna didn't need any confirmation and attacked the one to her right, ignoring the other two. She heard a scream from behind her and guessed that the man had taken down one. She sliced at the man in front of her, using almost all of the strength in her arm but felt a tinge of satisfaction as the blade cut through the pipe the man was holding and half way through his chest. He died almost instantly.

She turned and saw a sight that scared her, the man that had helped her stood still, like if he was having a staring contest with her almost-rapist, said rapist was standing completely still like if he was frozen in place and couldn't move. Reyna saw the ice-blue orbs that were the eyes of her saviour blink once and then he flew forward, it looked like his entire being turned into a shadow that moved forward and materialized on his left side, the right hand holding the butterfly knife was raised behind the frozen man's head, like he was stabbing him in the neck. She didn't exactly see movement but she saw when the man jerked forward, his whole body started to shimmer almost like it was fading from existence. She saw the butterfly knife buried in his neck before her saviour pulled it out and with a series of quick flicks with his wrist placed it back in the kangaroo pocket.

"Did they manage to hurt you?" the man asked, as he held up his hand. The sword in her hands disappeared and reappeared in his hand, "Good sword, eh?" He was British, she was certain, at least his accent sounded like the typical Oxford one. He made a gesture for her to come closer and she almost did, before she realised that her shirt front was torn open and her breasts were showing. She pressed both hands in front of herself, protecting her modesty.

"Stay away from me! You are probably just as bad as they are! You only want to help me for your own gain." If the words had any effect on him he didn't show it, he just continued, just as calmly as he spoke before,

"I know a place, not far from here where you can find refuge for the night, you will find other girls like you, as I take it you don't want to be near any man." Reyna could only nod to this. How did he know that every man she had met so far had been completely crazy are absolutely disgusting? First her father, who had gone crazy, Blackbeard and his crew who had all tried to rape her, only Hylla had made sure she was still a maiden, then her ex-boyfriend Magnus who had cheated on her and thrown her away like yesterday's trash, and lastly the almost-rapists.

"Come now. We need to move quickly as I am not supposed to be at this place, you were supposed to make it on your own." He started to walk away, Reyna followed after him but soon started to gain in, when she was almost past she got frustrated at the slow pace he was taking. Didn't this man have any urgency in his body? Her shirt was torn open and she didn't want any people looking at her like this, but he didn't he didn't even acknowledge her as they walked in silence towards the silver tents she saw before her.

* * *

Artemis looked from the girl who was trying to act as if she was sleeping in her bed to the man in front of her. The man who had saved her many years before and whom she had grown to love. She thought about the girl and suddenly felt proud, most of the hunters got their hearts broken, but not many were almost raped and had to kill three people on the same day.

Airikiv, or Eric as he preferred to be called, had taken his hood of and was now staring at Reyna with his blue eyes, the ice-blue colour was almost the same electric one that all bastard children of Zeus had. He stared with a strange mix of emotions showing in his eyes, one of the first times in the thousand years Artemis had known him that she saw emotion other than for a few very special times…

* * *

Reyna was faking her sleep, listening to the conversation the two strange people had been having. She got a few words, like her name and something like 'the one' but they seemed to switch to another language, that she couldn't understand halfway through the conversations. Their voices were hushed, almost like they cared for eachother, but Reyna didn't really get that, the man had told her that this was a camp for girls who hated men so she suspected the hushed voices were so that the other girls didn't hear them. She listened to their discussion until they finally stopped, it took some time before she realised that they had said her name before they stopped. Then she heard the girl say,

"You shouldn't be spying on people's conversations Reyna. It is not very polite, but as you are awake you can be part of this to. I really hoped your father taught you better than that."

Reyna opened her eyes just in time to see a forced expression on the face of the man, only for a split second, it seemed almost like shame. His face once again got it's stern look, that together with his short haircut and clever looking face made him look incredibly handsome.

"Let us introduce ourselves to you," the girl continued "My name is Diana and this is Eric." she gestured towards the man. Diana was maybe fourteen years old, cute with auburn hair and silver eyes that seemed to sparkle. Eric looked maybe eighteen or twenty, with 'ice-blue'-glowing eyes, with really dark dark-blonde hair. His face was sharp and he looked like he was clever. She saw that both of them stood in a certain way, as if they were prepared to fight something at every moment. Diana had a silver parka on, with silver combat-boots and leggings. Eric was wearing the same white hoodie and jeans, with white sneakers that didn't have a speck of dust on them.

Reyna thought for a moment, where had she heard the name Diana before? Then it struck her,

"Like the god Diana, the god of the moon?"

"That very same." Diana answered, "The god of childbirth, the moon, the hunt and archery, patron of maidens, daughter of Jupiter and… " she paused as if she was ashamed of what was coming next, " _sister_ of Apollo," she finished with a sigh.

"So you're a god? I thought you would look older." she stated. Artemis looked a bit angry but Eric started to laugh.

"That would be one of the perks of godhood, being able to control your age," he didn't mention any of the disadvantages but it was clear with the silence that he wasn't a god and didn't want to become one. Artemis responded to his answer by growing closer to him in age, looking less like a fourteen year old and more close to Eric in age, maybe eighteen. Her face grew sharper as well and she looked like the most beautiful woman Reyna had ever seen.

"I will give you a choice Reyna, you will have three options and you must choose now. You are free to choose whatever you want, understand, we're not pressuring you in any way." Diana said, Reyna nodded signifying that she understood.

"Your first option is to go to a training camp for demigods like yourself, yes you are one, your mother was a god. You will have your memory of this moment cleared and you will receive battle training and probably rise up in their ranks quickly," Diana said, swallowing.

"Your second option is to join my hunt, swear of the company of men and serve me. To this you will be given partial immortality and you will never age or die of sickness, only in battle may you fall. You will also get my blessing and become an expert marksman with the bow plus extreme agility," to show this she kicked out, her foot moving in a blur. But surprisingly to Reyna Eric caught the kick with his forearm before grabbing her foot and twisting making Diana spin in the air before landing hard on her back.

"Your third option," Eric said, "Is to join me in battle training, once i deem you ready you will be sent out into the mythological world to make peace. This will boost all your demigod abilities, make you an expert with every weapon and prepare you for whatever you might find out there. Choose wisely," he said as he held out his hand and helped Diana up, she muttered something that sounded like, "Show-offs be damned,"

Reyna was thinking all she could, the first option was completely off the scale, she would not throw herself into a camp she didn't know. With the hunters she at least shared some sort of common experience. But she felt that the offer from Eric was a one-time deal, she would not be able to get to choose that again if she wasn't happy with her choice.

"So what are you choosing?" she heard Eric's voice ask.

"I think I'm choosing option three, I am going with you." her voice trembled a bit but the smirk on Eric's face was priceless. It looked like he had won some sort of bet with Artemis because she punched him in the shoulder and gave a small bag that sounded like it was full of money. He spun the bag around his index-finger and placed it in his pant pocket.

"Great choice, mate." his British tone was more prominent than ever. "Sleep now child, you'll need it for the next years."

"Wait!" Reyna said as they both attempted to leave the tent, "What will happen to Hylla, and who are you?."

"Hylla has already set off to join the Amazons. As far as Eric goes I would call him a long-time friend…" her smirk suggested something other than what she said. Reyna was confused, Eric looked at most like he was twenty, how could they have known eachother for such a long time? And what was that shared smork of thiers?

"Sleep well Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. May the gods be ever in your favour," he said with a sarcastic tone. He made a waving motion with his hand and she instantly felt her world turn to darkness.

* * *

Zoë watched as the two figures exited the tent, she wondered who the man was and why Artemis was not ripping his throat out, but she guessed it was for the good of the girl, it would not be fun for her to wake up and see that the man that had saved her was dead.

Zoë was extremely surprised when the man hugged Artemis, no man had ever done that. Artemis leaned in for a kiss but the man refused. She felt her hand twitch towards her bow as she saw the glowing blue orbs that were the eyes of the man stare towards her as he leaned away from the kiss. They shared some words, he pulled up his hoodie and disappeared into the night, literally disappeared, becoming one with the darkness.

She started moving towards Artemis who was still standing looking at the spot where the man had faded from, like one of the stupid lovestruck girls that Zoë despised.

Zoë was about to call out to Artemis when she felt strong arms grab her throat from behind, squeezing the consciousness from her body, she felt her world grow darker and darker and the last thing she heard before she fainted was,

" _It is not polite to spy on people"_

…

 **A/N** **: I tried to make this chapter a little longer than the last one. But it is hard to come up with something to write without it getting boring. A far as the frequency of uptades is confirmed I try to make them as fast as possible but it as sometimes tough to get inspiration and school is draining me. Thank you if you've favourited the story, I would love it if you could review and share it, more favs and reviews = faster updates.**

 **Thank you**

 **/mOsbricka**


	4. Power of Runes

**All rights belong to Rick Riordan.**

 _Two years later_

Reyna stood her ground against the monsters, at least ten dracaenea. All of the wore armour and were armed with tridents. She was hopelessly outnumbered, and her sword had only an inch more reach.

She deflected the first stab from one of the snake women with her, sword. Ducking as she jabbed forward, piercing its chest. The draceanea exploded in a shower of golden dust. Its friends attacked before Reyna could raise her sword again. The first three stabbing at the exact same moment, Reyna jumped to avoid it. Pulling her legs up to her chest to minimise her hitbox, she landed on three interlocked tridents and forced them to the ground. She slice her sword across their throats, easeliy cutting through their necks and turning them to dust as well.

She felt a sharp pain in her right leg, looking down she saw a trident sticking out of it, she cut the trident off close to her leg and winced in pain as she tried to stand on the leg. She felt her anger boil as she jabbed upwards before ducking and cutting through the waist of the dracaena in front of her, it exploded just like al the other did. Five down, five to go.

The last five spread out around her, she knew this was going to be though, but she was a Roman, they did not back down from a fight, and they did not lose. She quickly lunged towards one of them, but it deflected her blow with its trident.

Reyna realised that they would most likely let her bleed out before they attacked, to make sure she was as weak as possible, and that she needed to win fast as she felt her powers tiring. One quick stab evaporated another and after a few minutes of jabbing back and forth she managed to rid the world of four more monsters. It took some for her to collect her breath and remove the last pieces of the trident from her thigh. Once it was out she tore off a part of her shirt and pressed it towards the wound.

She looked towards the hill where she hoped Eric would be standing but he wasn't there, she knew he didn't want her to wait for him so she returned to their camp.

The camp consisted of Eric's expertly set up tent- that looked perfectly like its surroundings so that it was impossible to find if you didn't know where it was, and Reyna's less expertly set up tent that looked like your ordinary scout's tent- a dark green colour that made Reyna want to puke.

Eric was waiting at the campfire, staring at her as she limped into their camp.

"Took some time didn't it? I thought you would be quicker today. They didn't seem like much to me," he said with a disappointed look towards her, "But sometimes you get held up." He threw her a large piece of ambrosia and a flask of nectar. The ambrosia tasted like the pastries she and Hylla used to get when they still lived in Puerto Rico, it made Reyna feel warm and soon the pain faded.

"What are we practicing now?" Reyna asked tiredly, every day for the last two years Eric had forced her to practice weapons, everything from knives to archery- which she knew perfectly.

"Today is the day that your training stops," Eric said. Reyna flinched. How could he stop her training? From his promise to her she would guess that he intended to teach her a lot more. "I will erase your memory of me, you'll keep most of what you learned though, hopefully you will complete the task you were born to do," he said with something that sounded like pain in his deep voice. His eyes locked hers and she realised that his eye-colour wasn't the same as it hed been before, they were not a bright ice-blue but deep ocean-blue, they looked caring and filled with emotion. His entire face seemed to have changed, becoming softer than the warrior he had previously shown.

It took some time for Reyna to realise what he had said, she would be sent away. She opened her mouth to complain but closed it as Eric started to chant in a strange language. As his chanting went on she saw his eyes start to glow- almost pulsating their colour. She felt the power that were in his words even though she didn't understand them. Suddenly he stopped chanting and it felt like a huge pressure was taken off her shoulders and she felt her world being covered by darkness…

* * *

 _Ceremony on Olympus after the second Gigantomachy_

Perseus Jackson and the rest of the Seven stood in front of the Olympian council together with Nico and Reyna. They had all just refused immortality. He had done it a second time, refusing godhood for the good of demigods.

"We hold you to your oath, lord Zeus!" he said, "The first part of our wish is that you release all the peaceful titans from their prisons. The second is that you give Hestia and Hades their rightful thrones," Zeus paled visibly. Percy swallowed and looked towards Annabeth, she nodded for him to continue, "The last thing we want you to do is relieve us of our demigod scents."

The bomb was dropped. Hades and Hestia both tackled Percy in a big hug. Artemis thought for some time before she realised that Leto was accounted for in 'peaceful titans', she nudged Apollo, who's smile went from ear to ear.

Two new, majestic thrones shot up from the ground, for the two gods. One was made of bone and was hard to look at, it made everyone feel uneasy. The other one looked like it was literally carved out from a fire, the intricate designs moving around.

"Okay, calm down everyone!" Zeus bellowed, "Hermes, get Hecate so we can get their scent of them." Hermes flashed away and after a couple of minutes he returned with Hecate who looked like she already had attended the party that was set to take place after the council hearing. Her face was flushed, her hair looked ruffled and she walked clumsily like she had been drinking.

She started chanting in ancient greek, and after a couple of minutes she stopped and stared at Reyna. Reyna felt extremely awkward as she asked the goddess what was wrong with her.

"You have a strange spell cast over you, praetor. We might want to crack that later, but as for now I'm far too intoxicated." she said as she made an attempt to walk away, Zeus stopped her.

"What do you mean she has a strange spell on her? Is it dangerous? When can we break it?"

Drama queen everyone else in the room instantly thought, but only Hera said something:

"Husband please, can't you see the festivities has already started? Let's party tonight and start working tomorrow, shall we? For now we can just call Bellona and ask if she knows anything about her daughter's mysterious curse." Zeus looked like he thought about this long and hard but in reality everyone knew he was planning how he could celebrate the best without angering his wife.

"Very well, Hermes go get Bellona." he commanded. Hermes once again flashed away, leaving the room in an uncomfortable silence. Only Athena seemed to have something to say, but when the flashes appeared she instead of staying in the room just flashed out, extremely angry-looking.

"Lady Bellona, you have been summoned here to explain if you know anything about the spell placed on your daughter." Bellona looked shocked,

"Has anything happened to Hylla?" she asked, with a scared voice. Everyone was shocked, didn't she know Reyna was the most important of her daughters right now? The one who looked the most confused was Reyna, her confusion soon turned to anger and she said loudly:

"What is wrong with you mother? What do I have to do for you to recognise me?!" Bellona located where the sound came from and stared surprised at Reyna.

"Who are you?" she asked with a confused tone, "I am not your mother child." Reyna stared in awe, how could someone forget one of her daughters but remember the other one. Reyna wasn't the only one who looked surprised. Everyone else was dead silent staring at Bellona.

"Isn't she your child?" Zeus asked. Bellona answered with a "No".

"Then who is she?" To everyone's surprise Hecate spoke up, "That answer may lay in the spell!" Zeus took some time to think about this, long and hard before he finally said:

"What if she is an enemy, if we can't verify her identity we can't be sure who she is siding with."

"Husband, not now!" Hera commanded, "She has brought peace to the children of the gods. She is not to be held guilty for a crime no one has committed. Now, like the youthful say, let's party!" she said as the doors opened for the biggest feast in history.

Percy didn't like the party, far too noisy and cheerful. He was haunted by memories of the friends he had lost in the two wars he fought for the gods. Silena, Beckendorf and many more floated just outside his vision, their deaths always playing on repeat in his mind. So as soon as Annabeth let him leave, he left the party to be alone in his grief. He walked around in the now empty part of Olympus, where no people were because everyone attended the party.

He walked around and studied the designs on the buildings, maybe Annabeth had been rubbing off on him as he had no memory of him ever doing that before. He heard someone clear their throat behind him and turned rapidly, Riptide extended in his hand and ended up with the point against the throat of a man.

Percy couldn't really make out his features because he wore a long sleeved hoodie and the hood covered his face, The only thing he could make out was the eyes of the person, ice-blue and glowing through the shadow that covered his face. The man spoke:

"So you are the mighty Percy Jackson? Slayer of Kronos and giants, son of the sea and hero of Olympus?" he paused for a second, "Why are you not attending the party to your honour?" Percy got a weird feeling that he could trust this man, he seemed eerily calm.

"I, eh, I wante-" he started, but the man interrupted him.

"You wanted some fresh air huh? To get rid of the memories?" It was more of a statement than a question, "I know that feeling, their faces always following you, always asking why you did it. Always blaming you, you feel terrible don't you?" he said as he handed over something that looked like a horn. "Here, drink this. It'll help," he said with a voice filled with pity.

Percy took the mug, and held it up to his mouth, tasting it. It tasted sweet, yet bitter with a strange aftertaste, like a lower quality of nectar, without the happiness. The hooded man held up another mug of the drink, "Cheers. Bottoms up!" he said and emptied it in one long sweep. Percy tried to copy but had to stop to breathe, he felt his head grow warm and the world seemed fuzzier, the ghosts disappeared and the voices stopped. He took a few steps, testing this strange new place but found it hard to walk, his balance was of. He took another long sweep of his drink and managed to empty the chalice. He looked towards the hooded man who just stared back at him, his blue eyes burrowing into Percy's.

"That is some strong stuff you drank there," he said. "Not everyone can take it."

The man walked off and left Percy staring happily into the night sky, before Percy left, stumbling towards the party.

* * *

 _Olympian throne room-_

 _A couple of days after the feast_

The gods were chanting in ancient greek, powerful words trying to lift the spell placed on Reyna. Everyone was still a little groggy after the party, the amounts of alcohol had been huge and restrictions had been loose. Even some of the heroes present looked like they had big hangovers, especially the greek demigods. The legionnaires were more strict in their alcohol consumption but even they had taken a few glasses.

Annabeth's and Percy's faces were flushed red, like the colour of the wine they had been consuming. They had only started when Percy came back from his little walk completely drunk, then Mr D had come around with drinks claiming that if Peter Johnson could have a fun trip into his domains then everyone could. He didn't mention the fact that Percy almost had a trip into his other domain, madness.

The Olympians chanted, their seats glowing with power. Two of them looked extremely happy to be there, the two were Hestia and Hades, the oldest child and the oldest son of Kronos and Rhea. Hestia radiated a warm and calming aura that must have lessened the spell and Hades' aura was the exact opposite, attacking the curse with fear and terror. Even though they were some of the most powerful beings in existence it took an hour for them to get a breakthrough, one hour of steady chanting. After the hour passed Hecate had joined them, now obviously sobered up and ready to use her magic. When she started chanting it was like the power of the others were amplified, and the air around Reyna began smoking.

Reyna's skin glowed ocean blue, the glow pulsating with every word the Olympians muttered. Strange symbols were forming on her skin, like tattoos but made of pure white light, they seemed to speak of power. It took another thirty minutes for the letters to start to fade, but at the same time the strength of the gods was running out. It seemed to be a battle of whoever lasted the longest as the symbols seemed infinitely powerful. The Olympians were also far too prideful to call for more gods to help them crack the curse.

 _Crack_. A loud sound was heard that managed to snap all of the demigods who lay bored out of their minds on the floor, they had been playing games and paying no attention to the council for the last two hours. With the snap the gods looked towards Reyna and saw that the symbols had started to get large cracks all over them, like paint drying. Then the symbols disappeared one after another until only one was left, on Reyna's neck, it didn't seem to want to disappear. Hecate held up her hand to stop the chanting, the tired gods stared at the result as the glow died down. Reyna's features had completely changed, her eyes were no longer black, but blue, like ice and her hair was caramel brown. Her facial features had also changed as she now looked more regal and, according to many of the male gods, like an absolute knockout.

Hera glanced at her husband who was staring at Reyna, drooling. Apollo and Hermes both looked at her seductively and Aphrodite seemed a little put off, like if someone had stolen all of her makeup.

Reyna looked at her reflection in the conjured up mirror and felt somewhat angry, all her life she had felt mediocre or ugly while it turned out she was beautiful, she was going to smack up whoever placed the spell on her big time.

While everyone was surprised two goddesses felt a slight tinge of recognition, she looked exactly like. ' _No it couldn't be-'_ they both thought. But it looked too similar for it to be a coincidence.

Hera looked at Zeus until he muttered: "Council dismissed." All the gods flashed out, leaving the demigods there.

Reyna looked to her friend who all stared in shock. After all her features were almost completely changed, only the flexibility of her body seemed to be left and even that seemed to have increased. She took one step, testing to see how it felt and was surprised when she felt how light it felt, like she didn't have to move a muscle. She punched a few times in the air and the speed of which her arm moved amazed her. She once again looked towards her friends: Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Frank, Hazel and Nico. Leo wasn't there as he had disappeared after the battle, probably from death caused by the giant explosion that incinerated Gaea.

"Let's just go back to CHB," Percy said, "Then we can figure out who your real parents are."

 **A/N: I've been having a case of writers-block for this story. I've been working on another story and the first chapter will hopefully be coming out in a few days. I promise that the Norse gods will appear soon. Please review if you have any tips or ideas that you think I should imploment. It will take some time for the next chapter to come out.  
**

 **/m0sbricka**


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